


Beautifully Red

by Abbyromana



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluffy Ending, Gen, mention of Martha Jones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-10
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:07:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25190632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abbyromana/pseuds/Abbyromana
Summary: The Doctor struggles to find the right words.
Relationships: Jenny (Doctor Who: The Doctor's Daughter)/Luke Smith
Kudos: 5





	Beautifully Red

**Author's Note:**

> I am in the process of deleting my LJ account, so I'm trying to transfer over my works. Please forgive roughness and incompleteness. I plan to start to update as soon as I am done. Thank you.

“She’s red,” simply said the Doctor, staring intently at the small, blanketed form cradled in his arms. His gaze snapped up when he heard an irritated scoff.

From across the room, Donna gave him a shrewd look over her shoulder. “Red?” She turned sharply to face him. “Is that all you can say about your granddaughter?”

The Doctor’s brow furrowed in thought. He let his gaze once more sweep over the pinched, red face, considering the little girl with no name. With most of her wrapped up in a snowy white blanket, her face looked more like a squeezed red fruit to the Doctor, and that’s why he described her so. Other than that, he was struggling to draw together original, coherent thoughts, something other than ‘oh,’ ‘is Jenny okay’, and ‘she’s red.’ Ever since he and Martha had helped Jenny bring his granddaughter into the universe, the Doctor had no new thoughts. His mind felt scattered at best.

“Well,” Donna stated, drawing his attention once more towards her.

He sighed, parting his lips for a moment, searching his befuddled mind. After a couple of seconds, he promptly snapped his mouth shut and just shrugged. He was without better words to describe his granddaughter or answer Donna to her liking.

“Doctor!” angrily demanded Donna, placing her fists on her hips.

“Well, she is…” he said, shifting his head from side to side. There were words in his head, he knew that, but only one made it past his lips. “... red.”

Donna sighed, rolling her eyes. “Blimey, Spaceman!” she said, sounding incredibly exasperatedly. “Are you daft or what? And here I thought you were clever... the spaceman who could bring civilizations to their knees with a few words in any of the countless languages you say you speak, and yet, you’re supposedly talented tongue is tied up all of the sudden. What’s with that?!”

“Oh,” he said off-handily, staring at Donna intently. There was something rude he knew he wanted to say in response, but he couldn’t even say that.

“Doctor! You’re holding the next generation of your family… your daughter’s daughter. The time tot you’ve been going on and on about since you found out Jenny was pregnant. You’ve been talking about nothing but her and building this nursery with Luke... so much so that I wanted to throttle you to keep you from rattling on night and day. And all you can say is ‘she’s red.’ Come off it!” she continued, returning to finish preparing the bassinet’s bedding.

“Oh,” he said simply again, letting his gaze wander back down to his granddaughter.

A second later, the Doctor he noticed his granddaughter's face was now smooth and only slightly red. Her small mouth was relaxed, forming a perfect ‘O.’ Her little eyes were starting to ease open, so that he could now clearly see their colour. She was looking up at him with Luke's eyes and slowly a tiny smile formed on her lips, reminding him of the smile Jenny gave him when he first saw her on Messaline.

“Oh! Donna, look!” the Doctor exclaimed. As at the time with Jenny, his granddaughter's smile made his hearts beat faster.

“What is it?” Donna asked worriedly from across the room. The sound of her hurried footsteps approached him. “Is she okay?” Out of the corner of his right eye, he saw Donna’s curly, red haired head inclining towards his granddaughter. “Oh! Oh, I see. She’s smiling at you, Doctor. Oh, isn't that just precious.”

The Doctor smiled back. “Precious? No, she's... she's more than that, Donna. She’s beautiful! Beautifully red!”

Donna laughed, shaking her head. “Yes, she is, Doctor,” she said softly, wrapping and arm around him. She rested her head against his right shoulder. “Very beautifully red.”

For a moment, they both stood in silence, gazing down at his granddaughter. She was slowly closing her eyes again. Her little mouth formed an ‘O’ once more, drawing in a few small breaths. At the same time, she started to wiggle underneath her blanket-coverings, easing herself closer to his chest. The Doctor adjusted his hold on her.

“She’s tired. I think we should put her down for a rest,” he said, looking towards the red curls resting on his right shoulder.

Donna lifted her head, warmly smiling at him. “Yes, Doctor. Very brilliant of you to deduce that.” she said, guiding him in the direction of the bassinet. "Your genius never ceases to amaze me."

The Doctor couldn’t help but beam back at Donna. Despite the fact that he knew she was being sarcastic, he didn’t care. “Oh, yes!” he said cheerfully, glancing back at his granddaughter with so much adoration that he felt his racing hearts might explode from the absolute joy and contentment he felt. “Even sleeping she’s beautiful and wonderful and brilliant and…”

“Yes, Spaceman,” Donna replied warmly, patting his back. There was a knowing smile on her face. “All that and more.”

“She’s brilliant!” he said exuberantly, laughing softly, “and, you know what, Donna?” He didn’t wait for her to respond to his question. “I’m a grandfather... again!”

“Yes, you are,” Donna confirmed, softly chuckling along with him. When they reached the side of the bassinet, she reached to take the little girl with no name, his granddaughter who soon would have a name. “Now, let’s put her into her new bed, so she can get some rest.”

“Oh, yes!” he stated jovially, being exceedingly careful in handing his granddaughter over to Donna. He felt on the verge of giggling like a fool, while he watched Donna place his granddaughter in the bassinet.

There was a surge of energy crackling at each nerve ending as if he could do anything and would, if only someone would ask him. He decided then and there that he would take his granddaughter everywhere and anywhere. He would show her all the wonder and beauty of the universe. He couldn’t wait until she was awake again, and unlike before, a thousand words wanted to burst forth from his tongue. Still now, he couldn’t do any of it, much to his frustration, because he didn’t want to do anything that might disturb his granddaughter. She needed to rest as much as her mum.

“Glad to see it’s finally sunk in, Spaceman,” Donna said. Her grin was widening as she spoke, but still, she kept her attention focused on his granddaughter. That’s when an idea formed in the Doctor’s head. Perhaps it was a bit barmy, and he should have taken a bit of time to chew it over before speaking. Still, at the moment, he thought it would be a brilliant way to thank Donna for everything she’d done for him and Jenny. Besides, she was practically family and already filled the position of Jenny’s mum/older sister.

“And you know what is better than even that, Donna?” he asked, rocking back and forth on his heels and burying his hands in his pinstriped jacket pockets.

“What’s that, Doctor?” she asked, situating the blanket covering over his granddaughter. “There all comfy, sweetheart.” She gently ran one of her hand's fingers along the little girl with no name’s left cheek.

“It means you can be her other nan! I mean, I'm sure Sarah Jane wouldn't mind,” he said too cheerfully. “Isn’t that brilliant?! Right, Donna?”

Donna abruptly stopped caressing his granddaughter’s cheek. Her whole body went rigid.

"Donna?" asked the Doctor, feeling that something was wrong.

A second later, Donna’s gaze snapped in his direction. There was a cold, threatening glare sizzling her eyes. He quickly realised his mistake.

“Or not,” the Doctor said fearfully, slowly starting to back away from Donna and towards the door. He coughed suddenly feeling very self aware and unwelcome in the TARDIS’s new nursery. He knew if he didn’t leave soon, Donna was going to slap him, most likely more than once. “Maybe I should go check on Jenny and Luke now? Martha might need a hand.”

“Yes,” Donna hissed, narrowing her eyes on him. “Why don’t you do that, Spaceman?”

The Doctor simply forced a big smile, before turning and quickly exiting the nursery.


End file.
